Friday, June 06, 2014

Frontier Ohio, 1788-1803, 3 Volumes

Frontier Ohio 71

"...stations. At the Muskingum, Marietta had not only the protection of the federal Fort Harmar, but its own Campus Martius; at Belpre, Farmers' Castle more than once proved a refuge from Indian attack; up the Muskingum at Waterford was the frontier outpost maintained by the Ohio Company and called Fort Frye. A recession of the frontier took place in 1791 when the settlement at Big Bottom, farther up the Muskingum, was wiped out by an Indian massacre

and all settlers on the Muskingum and on Wolf Creek withdrew to the fortified station of Waterford, which remained the outpost of settlement for some time." At Gallipolis, the luckless French, bewildered by frontier conditions, eked out a miserable existence, being continually scolded by the acting governor, Secretary Winthrop Sargent, for their inadequate defense against the Indians." At Massie's Station, now Manchester, were clustered a few intrepid surveyors, under the leadership of Nathaniel Massie, who were surveying the Virginia Military district, preparing for the rush of settlement into the Scioto Valley that would follow the making of permanent peace with the Indians." In the Miami region, Columbia and North Bend had begun their existence protected by block-houses of their own construction, while Cincinnati was fortunately able to dispense with its own protection because of location there of federal Fort Washington. In 1790, a protecting station appeared in the rear of each one of these settlements: behind North Bend was Dunlap's Station on the Great Miami; behind Cincinnati was Ludlow's Station on Mill Creek; and behind Columbia was Covalt's Station on the Little Miami. These stations, like Waterford on the Muskingum, remained the outposts of white civilization, and, although new stations were laid out before 1794, they were always between these three outposts and the Ohio River.

3

The Opening of the Flood-gates, 1795 -1803...."

"... 133

...When St. Clair issued a proclamation on July, 19 1791, warning settlers that certain lands near Fort Washington and near the Little Miami did not belong to Symmes, the latter wrote..."

"...134

...St. Clair's unwillingness to protect the settlers at Dunlap's Station late in 1791, followed by his departure from the Territory and Major David Zeigler's measures to afford that protection, caused Symmes to comment that, "Majors sometimes do more good..."